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History

The Grammar Translation Method is an old method which was originally used to teach dead languages which explains why it focuses mainly on the written form at the expense of the oral form. It was designed according to the faculty psychology approach which was very popular during the 18th and 19th century. It contended that " mental discipline was essential for strengthening the powers of the mind". The way to do this was through learning classical literature of the Greeks and Romans.

Method

Use of mother tongue.

Vocabulary items are taught in the form of word lists.

Elaborate explanations of grammar.

Focus on the morphology and syntax.

Reading of difficult texts early in the course.

Practice focuses on exercises translating sentences or texts from mother tongue to the target language and vice versa.

It is surprising to see that the Grammar Translation Method was still in use in some classrooms during the late decades of the 20th century. May be, it's because it bears some advantages.

Advantages

Translation is the easiest and shortest way of explaining meaning of words and phrases.

Learners have no difficulties to understand the lesson as it is carried out in the mother tongue.

It is a labor-saving method as the teacher carries out everything in the mother tongue.

Criticism

What the method is good at is "teaching about the language" , not "teaching the language".

Speaking or any kind of spontaneous creative output was missing from the curriculum.

Students lacked an active role in the classroom.

Very little attention is paid to communication.

Very little attention is paid to content.

Translation is sometimes misleading.

Because of all these disadvantages, instructors tried to find better ways to remedy the pitfalls of the grammar translation method. The Direct Method was the answer.

Reference:

Brown, H. Douglas, 2006. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fifth Edition, Pearson ESL.

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Other sources: wikipedia - GTM

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History The Grammar Translation Method is an old method which was originally used to teach dead languages which explains why it focuses mainly on the written form at the expense of the oral form. It was designed according to the faculty psychology approach which was very popular during the 18th and 19th century.

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Grammar Translation Method: Description, history and example of a lesson using this method.

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Audiolingual Method | Language Teaching Methods | TEFL Net

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Overview of the audiolingual method for teaching language, popular in the 1950s. For teachers of English, especially as foreign language.

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The document summarizes the Audio-lingual Method, a foreign language teaching method developed in the 1940s in the US. It emphasizes speaking and listening over reading and writing, uses dialogues and drills for practice, and discourages using students’ native language. The method was influenced by behaviorist psychology and aimed to develop conversational proficiency through repetition and imitation. While it had advantages like systematic techniques, it also had disadvantages like weak theory and learner boredom. - Download as a PPTX, PDF or view online for free

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From "Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching" By J.C. Richards and T.S. Rodgers.

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The Silent Way Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember,Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

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Suggestopedia is a teaching method which is based on a modern understanding of how the human brain works and how we most effectively.

Some of the key elements of Suggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment (pictures, colour, music, etc.), a positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods: dramatic texts, , active participation in songs and games, etc.

Suggestopedia adopts a carefully structured approach, using four main stages as follows:

Theintended purpose of Suggestopedia was to enhance learning by tapping into the power of suggestion. Lozanov claims in that "suggestopedia is a system for liberation"; liberation from the "preliminary negative concept regarding the difficulties in the process of learning" that is established throughout their life in the society.

The types of activities that are more original to suggestopedia are the listening activities, which concern the text and text vocabulary of each unit. These activities are typically part of the "pre-session phase", which takes place on the first day of a new unit.

The students first look at and discuss a new text with the teacher. In the second reading, students relax comfortably in reclining chairs and listen to the teacher read the text in a certain way. During the third reading the material is acted out by the instructor in a dramatic manner over a background of the special musical form described previously.

There are some benefits in utilizing suggestopedia:

By using this suggestopedia method, students can lower their affective filter. Suggestopedia classes, in addition, are held in ordinary rooms with comfortable chairs, a practice that may also help them relaxed. Teacher can do numerous other things to lower the affective filter.

Students remember best and are most influenced by information coming from an authoritative source, teachers.

It refers to the learning from two aspects. They are the conscious aspect and the subconscious one. Students can acquire the aim of teaching instruction from both direct instruction and environment in which the teaching takes place.

Suggestopedia encourages the students to apply language more independently, takes more personal responsibility for their own learning and get more confidence.

Suggestopedia also has limitation since there is no single teaching method that is categorized as the best based on some consideration such as: the curriculum, students motivation, financial limitation, number of students, etc.

Teacher will find different situation and different types of students in learning. Therefore, teacher should be creative and smart in choosing and using different types of methods in teaching different skill of language. Teacher can use suggestopedia as teaching method in their teaching. Using suggestopedia is very interesting but challenging to do. It can be seen from some considerations. In one side it has some benefits, but on the other side it also has some weaknesses.

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Suggestopedia is a teaching method which is based on a modern understanding of how the human brain works and how we most effectively. Some of the key elements of Suggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment (pictures, colour, music, etc.), a positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods: dramatic texts, , active participation in songs and games, etc.

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The natural approach developed by Tracy Terrell and supported by Stephen Krashen is a language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of the way humans naturally acquire their native language. The approach adheres to a communicative approach to language teaching and rejects earlier methods such as the audiolingual method and the situational language teaching approach which Krashen and Terrell (1983) believe are not based on "actual theories of language acquisition but theories of the structure of language "

The Natural Approach vs the Direct Method

Although The Natural approach and the Direct Method (also called the natural method) share some features, there are important differences. Like the direct method, the natural approach is

" believed to conform to the naturalistic principles found in second language acquisition. Unlike the direct method, however, it places less emphasis on teacher monologues, direct repetion,and formal questions and answers, and less focus on accurate production of target language sentences" (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:129)

Theory of language

Krashen and Terrell view communication as the primary function of language, and adhere to a communicative approach to language teaching, focusing on teaching communicative abilities rather than sterile language structures.

What really distinguishes the Natural approach from other methods and approaches are its premises concerning the use of language and the importance of vocabulary:

Language is viewed as a vehicle for communicating meaning and messages.

Vocabulary is of paramount importance as language is essentially its lexicon!

This means that language acquisition cannot take place unless the acquirer understands messages in the target language and has developed sufficient vocabulary inventory. In fact, it should be easier to reconstruct a message containing just vocabulary items than one containing just the grammatical structures.

Theory of learning

Krashen grounded the Natural approach on a number of learning tenets.

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Krashen makes a distinction between acquisition and learning.

Krashen defines acquisition as developing competence by using language for real communication. It is a natural way of developing the abilty to speak a language, paralleling first language development in children and refers to an unconscious process that involves the naturalistic development of language proficiency through understanding language and through using language for meaningful communication.

Learning, however, refers to formal knowledge of a language. It is the process in which conscious rules about a language are developed. It results in explicit knowledge about the forms of a language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge. Formal teaching is necessary for "learning" to occur, and the correction of errors helps with the development of learned rules.

The Monitor Hypothesis

Conscious learning can function only as a monitor or editor that checks and repairs the output of the acquired system. The Monitor Hypothesis states that we may use learned knowledge to correct ourselves when we communicate, but that conscious learning has only this function. Three conditions limit the successful use of the monitor:

1. Time. Sufficient time for a learner to choose and apply a learned rule.

2. Focus on form. Focus on the correctness or on the form of the output.

3. Knowledge of rules. Knowing the rules is a prerequisite for the use of the monitor.

The Natural Order Hypothesis

The acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a predictable order. Certain grammatical structures or morphemes are acquired before others in first language acquisition of English, and the Natural Order Hypothesis claims that the same natural order is found in second language acquisition. It is also believed that errors are signs of naturalistic developmental processes. Similar developmental errors occur in learners during acquisition (but not during learning) no matter what their native language is

The Input Hypothesis

The Input Hypothesis relates to acquisition, not to learning and states that people acquire language best by understanding input that is slightly beyond their level of competence. Krashen refers to this by the formula L +1 (where L+1 is the stage immediately following L along some natural order.) Comprehension is achieved through linguistic and extralinguistic context clues including knowledge about the world, the context of the situation etc... Comprehension precedes the emergence of speaking as fluency appears only as a result of the provision of sufficient comprehensible input. By comprehensible input, Krashen means the utterances that learners understand based on linguistic and extralinguistic context and which consists of a sort of simplified code. He contends that when there is such comprehensible input, language acquisition proceeds successfully. Krashen also claims that when there is enough of such comprehensible input, L+1will usually be provided automatically and

Affective Filter Hypothesis

There are three types of emotional attitudinal factors that may affect acquisition and that may impede, block or freely passes necessary input for acquisition. These are motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety. Acquirers with a high affective filter are less likely to develop competence.

In a nutshell

Teaching according to the Natural Approach involves the following principles:

Teaching according to the Natural approach focuses on communicative abilities.

One of its objectives is to help beginners become intermediate.

Vocabulary is considered prior to syntactic structures.

A lot of comprehensible input must be provided.

Use of visual aids to help comprehension.

The focus is on listening and reading. Speaking emerges later.

Reducing the high affective filter by

focusing on meaningful communication rather than on form.

providing interesting comprehensible input

The technique used in this approach are often borrowed from other methods and adapted to meet the requirement of the approach. These include:

Conclusion

The Natural Approach belongs to a tradition of language acquisition where the naturalistic features of L1 acquisition are utilized in the L2 acquisition. It is an approach that draws a variety of techniques from other methods and approaches to reach this goal which is one of its advantages. But the originality of this approach does not lie in these techniques but on the emphasis on activities based on comprehensible input and meaningful communication rather than on only grammatical mastery of language.

References:

To read more on the Natural Approach and other methods:

Richards, J. C. & Rogers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.). New York: Longman

Others sources:
Wikipedia: The Natural Approach

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The Natural Approach to language teaching

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The natural approach developed by Tracy Terrell and supported by Stephen Krashen is a language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of the way humans naturally acquire their native language.

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Background of the Community Language Learning

As the Chomskyan linguistic revolution turned linguists and language teachers away from the audiolingual method which focused on surface structure and on rote practice of scientifically produced patterns to a new era where the deep structure is paramount, psychologists began to see the fundamental importance of the effective domain. So innovative methods of language teaching were developed during the 70s to redress the shortcomings of the audiolingual method. One of these methods came to be known as Community Language Learning.

CLL differs from other methods by which languages are taught. It's based on an approach modeled on counseling techniques that alleviate anxiety, threat and the personal and language problems a person encounters in the learning of foreign languages. The method was originally developed by Charles Curran who was inspired by Carl Rogers view of education. in In this "Counseling-learning" model of education, learners in a classroom are seen as a group rather than as a class, a group in dire need of certain therapy and counseling . The social dynamics occurring in the group are very important and a number of conditions are needed for learning to take place.

Members should interact in an interpersonal relationship.

Students and teachers work together to facilitate learning by

valuing each other,

lowering the defense that prevent interpersonal interaction

reducing anxiety

and constituting a supportive community.

Teachers role is that of a true counselor.

They are not perceived as a threat

They don't impose boundaries and limits

They concentrate on the learners needs

Stages in Community Language Learning (CLL)

Learners go through 5 stages in their learning process.

1. "Birth" stage: feeling of security and belonging are established. Dependence on the knower as learners have little or no idea of the target language.

2. "Self stage": As the learner's ability improve and starts to gt an idea of how language works, they achieve a measure of independence from the parent although they still seek help from the knower.

3. "Separate existence": Learners can speak independently.

4. "Adolescence": The learners are independent although they are aware of gaps in their knowledge and feel secure enough to take criticism and being corrected.

5. "Independence": Complete independence from the knower. The child becomes an adult and becomes the knower.

Community Language Learning Class

Here is what you may find in a CLL class:

Students determine content.

Clients/learners establish an interpersonal relationship and trust in their native language.

They sit in a circle with the teacher/counselor on the outside of the circle.

Learners start a conversation.

Learners speak in their native language.

The counselor provides translations and explanations.

Learners repeat the utterances as accurately as they can.

The conversation goes on and my be taped for later use.

Advantages of CLL

CLL is an attempt to overcome the threatening affective factors in EFL and ESL.

The councelor allow the learners to determine type of coversation and to analyze the language inductively

The student centered nature of the method can provide extrincic motivation and capitalize on intinsic motivation.

Disadvantages

The counselor/teacher can become too non directive. Students often need directions .

The method relies completely on inductive learning. It is worthwhile noting that deductive learning is also a viable strategy of learning.

Translation is an intricate and difficult task. The success of the method relies largely on the translation expertise of the counselor.

H. Douglas Brown (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Other sources: Wikipedia - CLL

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As the Chomskyan linguistic revolution turned linguists and language teachers away from the audiolingual method which focused on surface structure and on rote practice of scientifically produced patterns to a new era where the deep structure is paramount, psychologists began to see the fundamental importance of the effective domain.

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As the language theories underlying the Audiolingual method and the Sitiuational Language Teaching method were questioned by prominent linguists like Chomsky (1957) during the 1960s, a new trend of language teaching paved its way into classrooms. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages, emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also referred to as "Communicative Approach". Historically, CLT has been seen as a response to the Audio-Lingual Method (ALM), and as an extension or development of the Notional-Functional Syllabus. Task-based language learning, a more recent refinement of CLT, has gained considerably in popularity.

Shortcomings of structuralism and behaviorism

The theories underlying the audiolingual method and the situational language teaching were widely criticized during the 1960s. Noam Chomsky, for instance, rejected the structuralist view of language and demonstrated that there is a distinction between performance and competence. The goal of the linguist is to study the linguistic competence native speakers are endowed with. He also showed, rightly, that structuralism and behaviorism were unable to account for one fundamental aspect of language, namely the creativity and uniqueness of individual sentences. A child is able to produce an infinite number of sentences that s/he has never encountered. This makes the factors of imitation, repetition and habit formation weak arguments to account for any language learning theory.

A shift towards communicative proficiency

The increasing interdependency between the European countries necessitated a need for a greater effort to teach adults the principal languages of the continent. New goals were set in language teaching profession:

The paramount importance of communication aspects of language.

The increasing interest in meaningful learning.

The growing centrality of the learner in teaching processes.

The subordinate importance of structural teaching of language.

Notional / functional dimension of language

Applied linguists and philosophers addressed another fundamental dimension of language: the functional and communicative potential of language. The speech act theory showed that we do something when we speak a language. We use language ( cf Halliday 1975)

to get things,

to control behavior,

to create interaction with others,

to express personal feelings,

to learn,

to create a world of imagination,

to communicate information.

Besides applied linguists emphasized a teaching of language based on communicative proficiency rather than mastery of structures. instead of describing the core of language through traditional concepts of grammar and vocabulary, they (Van Ek & Alexander, 1975; Wilkins, 1976) attempted to show the systems of meaning underlying the communicative use of language. They described two kinds of meanings.

Notional categories: concepts such as time, sequence; quantity, location, frequency.

Functional categories: requests offers, complaints, invitation ...

In other words, a "notion" is a particular context in which people communicate. A "function" is a specific purpose for a speaker in a given context. For example, the "notion," of shopping requires numerous language "functions," such as asking about prices or features of a product and bargaining.

One language competence or numerous competences?

For Chomsky the focus of linguistics was to describe the linguistic competence that enables speakers to produce grammatically correct sentences. Dell Hymes held, however, that such a view of linguistic theory was sterile and that it failed to picture all the aspects of language. He advocated the need of a theory that incorporate communication competence. It must be a definition of what a speaker needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community.

Later Canale and Swaine (1980) described four dimensions of communicative competence.

Grammatical competence: refers to what Chomsky calls linguistic competence.

Sociolinguistic competence: refers to an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place (role relationships, shared beliefs and information between participants ...)

Discourse competence: refers to the interpretation of individual messsage elements in terms of their interconnectedness and how meaning is represented in relationship to the entire discourse or text.

Strategic competence: refers to the coping strategies that participants use to initiate terminate, maintain, repair and redirect communication

Learning theory

According to the the communicative approach, in order for learning to take place, emphasis must be put on the importance of these variables:

Communication: activities that involve real communication promote learning.

Tasks: activities in which language is used to carry out meaningful tasks supports the learning process.

Meaning: language that is meaningful and authentic to the learner boosts learning.

Acquiring or learning?

Stephen Krashen later advocated in his language learning theory that there should be a distinction between learning and acquiring. He sees acquisition as the basic process involved in developing language proficiency and distinguishes this process from learning. Acquisition is an unconscious process that involves the naturalistic development of language proficiency while learning is the conscious internalization of the rules of language. It results in explicit knowledge about the forms of language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge. Learning according to Krashen can not lead to acquisition.

Syllabus

Communicative language teaching syllabus organizes the teaching according to the notional and functional categories of language rather than according to its structures.It concentrates on the following:

Interactions: using language to communicate,

Tasks: using language to perform meaningful tasks

Learner: putting the learner's interests, needs in the forefront.

Merits of CLT

There are many advantages in teaching according to the communicative approach:

CLT is a holistic approach. It doesn't focus only on the traditional structural syllabus. It takes into consideration communicative dimension of language.

CLT provides vitality and motivation within the classroom.

CLT is a learner centered approach. It capitalizes on the interests and needs of the learner.

In a world where communication of information and information technology have broken new considerable ground, CLT can play an important role in education.

Criticism

Notional syllabus was criticized as merely replacing one kind of list, namely a list of grammatical structures, with another list of notions and functions.

The various categories of language functions are overlapping and not systematically graded like the structures of the language.

The communicative approach focuses on the use of language in everyday situations, or the functional aspects of language, and less on the formal structures. There must be a certain balance between the two.It gives priority to meanings and rules of use rather than to grammar and rules of structure. Such concentration on language behavior may result in negative consequences in the sense that important structures and rules would be left out.

The approach relies extensively on the functional-notational syllabus which places heavy demands on the learners.

A major principle underlying this approach is its emphasis on learners' needs and interests. This implies that every teacher should modify the syllabus to fit the needs of the learners.

The requirements are difficult. Not all classrooms can allow for group work activities and for teaching aids and materials.

In spite of its critics, CLT has gained widespread acceptance in the world of language study. CLT can succeed, as long as teachers don't completely reject the need for the structure provided by grammar. Teachers must strive for moderation and shouldn't neglect the merits of other methods. CLT, in the hands of a balanced teacher, can bring new life and joy to the classroom. Its vitality makes it an important contributor to language learning approaches.

Read more on the Communicative Approach.

References

H. Douglas Brown (1987).Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Other sources: Wikipedia - CLT

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Communicative Language Teaching (The Communicative Approach)

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As the language theories underlying the Audiolingual method and the Sitiuational Language Teaching method were questioned by prominent linguists like Chomsky (1957) during the 1960s, a new trend of language teaching paved its way into classrooms. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages, emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language.

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It has strong connections to project work, task-based learning and a holistic approach to language instruction and has become particularly popular within the state school secondary (11 - 16 years old) education sector.What is content-based instruction?What does a content-based instruction lesson look like?What are the advantages of content-based instruction?What are the potential problems?Conclusions

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una presentacion sencilla the content based instruction

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Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which complex real-world problems are used as the vehicle to promote student learning of concepts and principles as opposed to direct presentation of facts and concepts. In addition to course content, PBL can promote the development of critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. It can also provide opportunities for working in groups, finding and evaluating research materials, and life-long learning (Duch et al, 2001).

PBL can be incorporated into any learning situation. In the strictest definition of PBL, the approach is used over the entire semester as the primary method of teaching. However, broader definitions and uses range from including PBL in lab and design classes, to using it simply to start a single discussion. PBL can also be used to create assessment items. The main thread connecting these various uses is the real-world problem.

Any subject area can be adapted to PBL with a little creativity. While the core problems will vary among disciplines, there are some characteristics of good PBL problems that transcend fields (Duch, Groh, and Allen, 2001):

The problem must motivate students to seek out a deeper understanding of concepts.

The problem should require students to make reasoned decisions and to defend them.

The problem should incorporate the content objectives in such a way as to connect it to previous courses/knowledge.

If used for a group project, the problem needs a level of complexity to ensure that the students must work together to solve it.

If used for a multistage project, the initial steps of the problem should be open-ended and engaging to draw students into the problem.

The problems can come from a variety of sources: newspapers, magazines, journals, books, textbooks, and television/ movies. Some are in such form that they can be used with little editing; however, others need to be rewritten to be of use. The following guidelines from The Power of Problem-Based Learning (Duch et al, 2001) are written for creating PBL problems for a class centered around the method; however, the general ideas can be applied in simpler uses of PBL:

Choose a central idea, concept, or principle that is always taught in a given course, and then think of a typical end-of-chapter problem, assignment, or homework that is usually assigned to students to help them learn that concept. List the learning objectives that students should meet when they work through the problem.

Think of a real-world context for the concept under consideration. Develop a storytelling aspect to an end-of-chapter problem, or research an actual case that can be adapted, adding some motivation for students to solve the problem. More complex problems will challenge students to go beyond simple plug-and-chug to solve it. Look at magazines, newspapers, and articles for ideas on the story line. Some PBL practitioners talk to professionals in the field, searching for ideas of realistic applications of the concept being taught.

The problem needs to be introduced in stages so that students will be able to identify learning issues that will lead them to research the targeted concepts. The following are some questions that may help guide this process:

What will the first page (or stage) look like? What open-ended questions can be asked? What learning issues will be identified?

How will the problem be structured?

How long will the problem be? How many class periods will it take to complete?

Will students be given information in subsequent pages (or stages) as they work through the problem?

What resources will the students need?

What end product will the students produce at the completion of the problem?

Write a teacher's guide detailing the instructional plans on using the problem in the course. If the course is a medium- to large-size class, a combination of mini-lectures, whole-class discussions, and small group work with regular reporting may be necessary. The teacher's guide can indicate plans or options for cycling through the pages of the problem interspersing the various modes of learning.

The final step is to identify key resources for students. Students need to learn to identify and utilize learning resources on their own, but it can be helpful if the instructor indicates a few good sources to get them started. Many students will want to limit their research to the Internet, so it will be important to guide them toward the library as well.

The method for distributing a PBL problem falls under three closely related teaching techniques: case studies, role-plays, and simulations. Case studies are presented to students in written form. Role-plays have students improvise scenes based on character descriptions given. Today, simulations often involve computer-based programs. Regardless of which technique is used, the heart of the method remains the same: the real-world problem.

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Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which complex real-world problems are used as the vehicle to promote student learning of concepts and principles as opposed to direct presentation of facts and concepts. In addition to course content, PBL can promote the development of critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills.

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Grammar-Translation Method | Language Teaching Methods | TEFL.net

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Overview of the Grammar-Translation method for teaching languages that evolved from the Classical Method. For teachers of English, especially as foreign language.

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Throughout history, many trends in the world of language teaching have come and gone.

Some have graced us with just a brief visit.

Others have stood the test of time and become part of the training of language teachers the world over.

Hovering wordlessly in a category all by itself is a powerful but somewhat oddball method known as the "Silent Way."

This approach has the weight of history behind it, having been around since the early 1970s. But like its name, the specifics of this obscure method have seemed largely absent from discourse about how to teach language.

Yet it still has a following of faithful educators who use it in their classrooms and love it.

So what exactly is the Silent Way? And how can you use it?

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

What is the Silent Way?

This unconventional method was developed alongside Afro hairstyles and platform shoes back in the 1970s by mathematician (yes, we said mathematician) Caleb Gattegno. It was based upon ideas outlined in his book "Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools the Silent Way," published in 1963. Like most cultural events of the 60s and 70s, it was a reaction to previous approaches and methods that were considered excessively rigid and constricting.

The basic method that underlies this approach is simple but potentially quite powerful: In contrast to traditional methods, the emphasis is on the student's learning rather than the teacher's teaching. In fact, it is not uncommon for the teacher to remain silent for parts of a lesson.

In the absence of the teacher dominating the lesson, the student takes an active role in the learning process, and their input guides the learning trajectory. The teacher redirects and corrects when necessary, but the teacher grants students greater autonomy and fosters the development of independent problem-solving skills.

The role of the teacher is to direct students' focus, facilitate self-reflection and provide verbal and nonverbal feedback when necessary. Students, on the other hand, are encouraged to speak as much as possible.

Most of the traditional tools for language instruction (textbooks, worksheets, verb conjugation tables) are completely absent from this method. In their place, instruction takes place through the medium of Cuisenaire rods (colored rods traditionally used in the teaching of math to primary school students) and charts that indicate the correct pronunciation of certain letters without the teacher having to teach pronunciation through rote memorization or call-and-response exercises.

Why might you decide to use the Silent Way method?

We know how you feel. Teaching a language with silence? How could that possibly work?

Don't be too quick to judge. There are plenty of great reasons to at least give this method a try.

Improved problem-solving skills. Without your input, students are forced to figure out all kinds of things on their own, mimicking some of the real-life problem-solving situations they might find themselves facing if immersed in the target language. These are skills that they will not have the opportunity to develop if the teacher always does the figuring out for them.

Increased engagement. Learning basic vocabulary and pronunciation can often feel monotonous to students. With the Silent Way, students are engaged in the learning process, discovering words and sounds instead of having these drilled into them. Students become more engaged and invested in the process as they assume more responsibility for their own learning, and tasks have more relevance.

A positive, safe learning environment. Limited input from the teacher means almost no criticism... which means students feel that it is safe to make mistakes, a necessary step in language learning.

It can supplement further student-centered work. Including the above features in your students' learning will complement deeper interactive and independent work with the language. For example, they might do such work when using FluentU, a platform that offers students a unique and culturally authentic way to engage with real-world content at their own pace.

As you can probably imagine, though, the Silent Way is not without its drawbacks.

Potential problems with the Silent Way

The Silent Way is not for everyone. Here are some valid reasons for deciding not to use it.

It may feel strange and scary to some students. It is safe to say that your students have never experienced anything quite like the Silent Way before. Without adequate explanation or preparation, they might be unsure of how to handle it, especially in the beginning.

It may be challenging for some students. If a student has an IEP, or requires extra coaching or scaffolding due to special needs of any kind, they can really struggle with the Silent Way. These students need frequent interactions with their teacher in order to be successful.

Students may feel that they are not getting enough feedback. While traditional teaching methods make extensive use of verbal and written feedback, the Silent Way does not. This means that students will have to adjust to the new way of receiving feedback, and they may feel insecure about the lack of verbal positive or negative reinforcement in the beginning.

Progress may look different than with other methods. Advocates of the Silent Way will tell you that the focus is on learning a few things well rather than "covering" the material, but the Silent Way aims for quality rather than quantity. In other words, it may feel like students spend a lot of time learning the basics of vocabulary and pronunciation rather than progressing quickly through these topics, but remember that learning a language means developing many skills simultaneously. In fact, some skills such as accurate pronunciation may take years to master.

Strategies to make the Silent Way work for you and your students

If you do decide to use this method, here are some strategies to help you find success.

Educate students thoroughly from the outset about this method and why you are using it. Once you have achieved student buy-in, you can begin implementing this method without fear of scaring them away.

Check in individually with students who need it from time to time, to make sure that they are okay. You can schedule regular meeting times with them, or check in discreetly during class. This will help them feel more confident about their progress.

Give feedback non-verbally. Practice conveying a message with body language, gestures and facial expressions. You will be amazed at how much you can communicate to students without saying a word.

Emphasize quality rather than quantity. Clearly articulate that attaining mastery, rather than simply covering everything in the curriculum, is the priority.

Now that you understand the basics of the Silent Way and how it works, let's begin to put it into practice with an actual activity.

A Silent Way-inspired sample activity

There is a wealth of literature on the techniques and methods of the Silent Way. If you want to become an expert, we recommend starting with Gattegno's original book, Teaching Foreign Languages in Schools the Silent Way (which is available for free online) and then working your way up from there.

However, even if you don't become formally trained as an expert in the Silent Way, you can still utilize some Silent Way methodologies in your language classroom.

First, you'll need the right equipment:

You can find Cuisenaire rods at most educational supply stores that sell classroom manipulatives. One great online resource is Hand2Mind, a site where you can easily find and order a wide variety of classroom resources. You can look for whatever you need under "Grade" or a category like "Math," "Science" or "Literacy" (in this case, you could go to "Math" and scroll down to "Manipulatives") or simply use the search field. There are over 40 options for Cuisenaire rods alone that you can browse through and choose from based on factors like class size.

Silent Way charts are a bit more difficult to find. A website called Educational Solutions is the sole supplier of them. But it is also completely feasible to look at examples of them and create your own. Examples of English pronunciation charts can be found here. Links to pronunciation charts in other languages, such as Chinese, Japanese and French, can be reached via the website of Donald Cherry, a long-time practitioner and advocate of the Silent Way. You can also find other resources on TED Ed to help you get set up for using this method in your classroom.

You will begin by instructing your students on pronunciation using a chart with multicolored rectangles. What do rectangles have to do with pronunciation, you ask? Well, each color represents a different sound. Once the students have learned, through repetition, what these sounds are, you can move on to charts that have short words, with letters that are color-coded to represent the sounds. (See, for example, these charts from Pronunciation Science.)

Once students have connected the colors to the sounds, you can teach the pronunciation of simple words without almost no verbal intervention at all. It is just a matter of pointing to the correct sound on the chart and indicating to the student, through your body language, whether they are pronouncing it correctly or not. At this point, you'll also want to solicit feedback among students, which is an important part of Silent Way teaching. You can tap one sound harder than the others if you need to show students which syllable of a word to stress.

Once students have learned which sound corresponds to which color, you can walk them through a simple activity.

Call a student to the front of the room and hand them a rod. Using the pronunciation chart, point out the sounds to help students form the words: "Put the rod on the table."

Ask the class (through gesture) to repeat the instruction: "Put the rod on the table."

The student then follows the direction and puts the rod on the table.

Next point out another direction using the chart: "Put the rod under the table."

Follow the same process outlined in Steps 2-3.

Continue by asking students to direct each other to put rods in different places ("on the chair," "in front of the window," etc.)

The wonderful thing about this activity is that it gets students talking and problem-solving together in the target language... with virtually no verbal intervention from you.

Practical considerations for everyday use of the Silent Way

As you can tell, there are certainly advantages to this unconventional method. After all, every teacher's ultimate goal is to equip their students with the tools to manage the content independently, with limited teacher intervention.

But is the Silent Way really practical? How much will your students learn?

The answer depends on you and your students. Some teachers use the Silent Way religiously. They and their students will tell you that they have found it far superior to any other method.

At the other extreme, some will tell you it is nonsense.

As with most things in education and in life, a balanced approach is key.

Especially when you first begin using it, it may be preferable to combine aspects of the Silent Way with some of the best practices taken from other methods.

In fact, if you examine the Silent Way closely, it does bear some resemblance to other more popular methods. Like TPR, it gets students moving, speaking and constructing meaning independently without textbooks and drills. Like with task-based language learning, the focus is taken away from learning language for its own sake, and instead becomes all about functionality and accomplishing a task together.

In short, the Silent Way perhaps has more advantages than we have given it credit for, and deserves (at the very least!) a second look.

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The Silent Way: An Unconventional Language Teaching Method

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Throughout history, many trends in the world of language teaching have come and gone. Some have graced us with just a brief visit. Others have stood the test of time and become part of the training of language teachers the world over.

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The Silent Way

The Chomskyan criticism of the theories upon which the audiolingual method was founded led to an interest in not only the affective factors but also in the cognitive factors. While Community Language Learning, drawing from Carl Roger's philosophy, focused on the importance of the affect, new methods were developed in the 70s to highlight the cognitive domain in language learning. The Silent Way is one of these innovative methods. In Fact, Caleb Gattegno, the founder of the Silent Way,devoted his thinking to the importance of problem solving approach in education. He contends that the method is constructivist and leads the learners to develop their own conceptual models of all the aspects of the language. The best way of achieving this is to help students to be experimental learners.

Features

The Silent Way is characterized by its focus on discovery, creativity, problem solving and the use of accompanying materials. Richards and Rodgers (1986:99) summarized the method into three major features.

1. Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates. The Silent way belongs to the tradition of teaching that favors hypothetical mode of teaching (as opposed to expository mode of teaching) in which the teacher and the learner work cooperatively to reach the educational desired goals. (cf Bruner 1966.) The learner is not a bench bound listener but an active contributor to the learning process.

2. Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. The Silent Way uses colorful charts and rods (cuisenaire rods) which are of varying length. They are used to introduce vocabulary ( colors, numbers, adjectives, verbs) and syntax (tense, comparatives, plurals, word order ...)

3. Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned. This can be summarized by Benjamin Franklin's words:
"Tell me and I forget
Teach me and I remember
Involve me and I learn"
A good silent way learner is a good problem solver. The teacher's role resides only in giving minimum repetitions and correction, remainingsilent most of the times, leaving the learner struggling to solve problems about the language and get a grasp of its mechanism.

Disadvantages

The Silent Way is often criticized of being a harsh method. The learner works in isolation and communication is lacking badly in a Silent Way classroom.

With minimum help on the part of the teacher, the Silent Way method may put the learning itself at stake.

The material ( the rods and the charts) used in this method will certainly fail to introduce all aspects of language. Other materials will have to be introduced.

Advantages

Learning through problem solving looks attractive especially because it fosters:

creativity,

discovery,

increase in intelligent potency and

long term memory.

The indirect role of the teacher highlights the importance and the centrality of the learner who is responsible in figuring out and testing the hypotheses about how language works. In other words teaching is subordinated to learning

References

Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

H. Douglas Brown (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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The Chomskyan criticism of the theories upon which the audiolingual method was founded led to an interest in not only the affective factors but also in the cognitive factors. While Community Language Learning, drawing from Carl Roger's philosophy, focused on the importance of the affect, new methods were developed in the 70s to highlight the cognitive domain in language learning.

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Suggestopedia - Download as a PDF or view online for free

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Audio-Lingual Method is usually also referred to as an Army Method. It is a style of teaching foreign languages. One of the most important features of this method is the practice of reinforcement. In simple terms, to encourage the correct use of a trait, positive feedback is given. On the other hand, negative feedback is given if an incorrect use of a trait is made. This is similar to the basic notions of behavioral psychology which emphasizes greatly on the idea of reinforcement.

This method is primarily about teaching a foreign language without making use of the native language. Hence, this way, new grammatical rules are taught to students who are only exposed to the target language. Using this method, the teacher would tell the students the correct way of using a certain grammatical rule for instance. The students are expected to repeat. Same structure is followed. The teacher keeps telling the students new words and the students repeat those after the teacher. As self-explanatory as it sounds, this all implies that the students basically are supposed to memorize all what they are being taught to say. This is more like a drill, whereby the student is expected to keep repeating it until they are able to use the learnt words or rules by themselves and in a more spontaneous manner. Most important feature of this method is that the language is learnt mainly through dialogue. The reading and writing parts, hence, are learnt at the later stage.

Like every foreign language teaching method, this method has several advantages and disadvantages. The audio-lingual method is a teacher-dominated method. This might lead to a faster learning. The learner has a little control over what is being taught. All these serve as big advantages for the users of this method. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages is the passive role of the learner. This might lead to slight demotivation.

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TEACHER CLIL AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD - UKEDA Traning

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Audio-Lingual Method is usually also referred to as an Army Method. It is a style of teaching foreign languages. One of the most important features of this method is the practice of reinforcement. In simple terms, to encourage the correct use of a trait, positive feedback is given.